Problems in handling address data at Serafe solved according to Bakom
A solution has been found for the problems in dealing with incorrect address data at Serafe, the collection agency for the radio and television levy. The Federal Office of Communications Bakom has informed the cantons accordingly.
In order for Serafe to report the incorrect or inaccurate household data to the population registries, Bakom, Serafe and the Association of Swiss Population Services VSED jointly defined the information with which to fill out the forms, Bakom said Monday.
Since January 22, 2019, Serafe has been the point of contact for households with questions regarding the billing of the radio and television levy. This measure has relieved the municipalities, which had received a large number of inquiries that concerned other than address issues and did not fall within their area of responsibility, writes Bakom.
However, Serafe was not authorized to make changes to the household data in the residents' registers. A monitoring group had therefore drawn up a feedback process to ensure that the complaints collected from citizens who fell within the remit of the residents' registers reached them.
Serafe would report back to the population registers all the data collected and intended for the population registers in a now specially defined feedback form. This process had been defined on July 30 between Bakom, Serafe and VSED. Bakom informed the cantons accordingly in a letter dated September 27 and asked them to forward this information to the municipalities.
The introduction of the new radio and TV levy had raised numerous questions and caused discrepancies. The VSED complained that Serafe had not sent out the January invoices according to the most up-to-date address data from the residents' registers. However, residents' services were also confronted with questions about deadlines, installment payments, exemption applications and other matters for which Serafe is responsible.
Serafe, based in Fehraltdorf ZH, has been collecting the fees since January 1, 2019 as the successor to Billag. The system change from a device-dependent reception fee to a device-independent household fee came into effect at the same time. Serafe's mandate runs until 2025. For the entire duration of the mandate, Serafe will receive CHF 123 million from Bakom. (SDA)
